Social media continues to change: live streaming has taken over, Snapchat now has a search option for public stories, the Twitter egg is now done for…

Lucky for you, the #MMSocialReport brings you the top social media news of the week. Take a look and get caught up:

1. Twitter Adds Location Sharing To Direct Messages

by @mp_gavin via @MediaPost

Mind you, this is for interactions with businesses only. They can request a location or share theirs in order to help a customer, say, find a nearby restaurant or place an order. This is a part of a new general goal on the part of Twitter to allow for more personal contact on their platform. 

2. RIP, Twitter Egg. It Was Good Knowing You, However Anonymously

by @provenself and Brian Raferty via @WIRED 

In other Twitter news, the infamous egg will be no more. The ubiquitous default avatar that came to be associated with spam and harassment is being replaced. Don’t get too excited though, the gray bust that’s replacing it is just as bland (if not more so). The point being, after all, to get users to upload their own picture.

3. Instagram now lets you send photo and video DMs from your PC

by @agoshall via @TheNextWeb

You still can only upload posts from your mobile device. But now Instagram at least allows for direct messaging from the Windows 10 app.

4. Snapchat’s Adding a New Content Search Option to Boost User Engagement

by @adhutchinson via @SocialMedia2day

Snapchat has been described as the social media “for friends,” meaning it is meant to keep up with the groups of people you actually know. However, it has now made finding public stories way easier with the addition of a search option. It is left to be seen if this is part of a more general change for the app.

5. One in five Facebook videos is Live as it seizes the verb

by @joshconstine via @techcrunch

Last week in the blog, we covered the widespread embrace that live streaming has enjoyed so far. This is yet another stat that shows that the change is for real: Facebook revealed that one out of every five videos shared on their platform are, in fact, live streams.

Metter Media LLC is a Boston-based social media management company that implements community-based, localized social engagement strategies for small businesses and corporations alike. Need help with your social media? Email Lauren today.